


Love Happens

by Cherry_Mango



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Eighth Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24946504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherry_Mango/pseuds/Cherry_Mango
Summary: The Wizarding War has finished and 7th year Hogwarts students are being called again to continue their education. Hermione Granger has been called to continue her final year at Hogwarts wherein she's the new Head Girl, while the new Head boy is none other than Draco Malfoy.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	1. Notice

Disclaimer alert:  
Everything in this story, apart from the plot, is brought to us by J.K Rowling.  
This work is created as a fan written fiction for the purpose of entertaining other fans.  
I do not derive any money nor compensation from this work apart from the response of my audience.

Updates: Every Friday


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione receives an interesting letter

The continuous tapping and the light from the windows woke a certain Hermione Granger from her sleep. She groaned and threw a pillow at the general direction of the noise in hopes of silencing it, but the noise seem to get louder instead. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before getting out of her very comfortable bed which still seems to call her back. Ignoring the call, she bent down and stretched to wake herself up.

After making sure her body’s totally awake, she then looked at the thing that woke her from her sleep, a very annoyed looking barn owl hooted at her angrily, tapping the window harder. She opened the window and the owl flew in, hooting indignantly at her as it dropped a small parcel at her lap. Hermione placed the parcel on her bed, stood up and got a bird stand and some treats for the owl which she kept in case of a message from her friends. The bird flew towards the stand and seemingly sat down on it while snacking on the treats.

Hermione took her wand from her nightstand, and waved at the bed. The bed magically fixed itself before her, her bed now made, she sat down and opened the parcel. Inside was a very familiar envelope with an even more familiar insignia as a seal. With trembling hands she gently peeled of the wax seal and opened the envelope.

Dear Miss Hermione Granger

Due to the unfortunate events of last year, the school board has decided to allow the previous 7th years to return and redo their 7th years if they so wish. We understand that some students were more than distracted by the happenings of the previous year and may want the chance to experience another year without the constant distractions provided by the year before.

Along with this letter are a list of things you will need if you wish to return as an 8th year student. I have also enclosed something that I feel you most definitely deserve for your contributions to the welfare of the school. 

I shall expect a return owl of your response regarding your return.

Regards,   
Minerva McGonagall  
Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hermione dropped the letter in surprise and immediately grabbed the parcel, inside was another parchment containing a list of things that are meant for 7th years; she ignored it having already seen it the year before. She looked again and saw another envelope, this one bulkier than the last. This time, she wasn’t careful nor precise, she ripped the flap of the envelope, seal and all and saw a gleaming badge of gold. It was plain, classy, with the words ‘Head Girl’ engraved at the bottom, the rest of the space which she assumed for the name was unoccupied. She stared at the gold badge on her hands, unable to process anything.

Snapping from her reverie, she took the envelope with the welcome letter and the badge and went out of her room. She walked towards the kitchen, hearing the unmistakable chatter of the telly and the laughs of her parents as they watch whatever was on while eating breakfast. A year ago, her parents won’t even allow the television to be turned on during breakfast, apparently spending a whole year as Wendell and Monica Wilkins seem to have reduced their inhibitions. 

Her parents noticed her looking at them, “Hermione, sweetie! Come! Your dad tried this quiche recipe he found for today’s breakfast.” Her mother smiled at her. Hermione took a deep breathe, trying to calm herself as she approached them. She sat down on a chair and placed the letter along with the badge on the table.

Her parents seem to notice her distress and took the letter, silently reading it together. Hermione glanced at them, both their faces are blank as they read the letter. She silently waited for them to finish, which didn’t take long, the letter was quite short.

Her father placed the letter on the table with a sigh, looking deeply conflicted; her mother mirroring the emotion on her own face. Her father sighed yet again, “So, do you want to go back?” She was startled, the question not quite the reaction she was expecting but answered nonetheless, “Yes, but I won’t go if you say no.” she looked down, as if the answer was physically painful to say. Her dad held both of her hands, her mother hugged her, crying. “Sweetie, you know we’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to do. We know how much you love that world of yours.” Her mother said, tears in her eyes. 

“Hermione, as much as we would love to just snatch you away from that world and believe me, your mother and I would do everything we can to do that, especially after what you did last year, but we know how much you love that world. We’ve seen you before sweetheart, you pretend to be happy. Sure at times you’re really happy, but it’s only with us or with books. We want you to follow your heart and as much as we hate to admit it. You belong there.” Her father said, and Hermione broke down, crying.

The two chuckled and hugged their crying daughter. “Now, if you’re going back, I have one condition.” Her dad added, Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks and stared at her father inquiringly, “Take that school by storm. I want you to show them how amazing you are and prove to them that your blood does not make you below them. Be the best Head Girl your school has ever seen.” Hermione felt the tears brim on her eyes yet again, but she managed to keep them from falling. She beamed at her parents and hugged them. “I love you both so much”.

She sent a letter to the Weasleys, informing them of her arrival later on, and another letter to Hogwarts informing Minerva of her return for an 8th year and her acceptance of the Head Girl Position. Her mom came soon after to help her pack her things, among other things.

“Hermione I tell you, your father and I are getting old, your antics the previous year are enough to cut a decade from our lives!”  
“Mom!”  
“No sweetie, hear me out, just a boyfriend sweetie, that’s all I ask! Your previous relationship with Ron barely lasted a month and we didn’t even get to bond over it!” Her mother teased and Hermione laughed. “Okay, I’ll send word if I somehow find a boyfriend, but no more talk about it please mom!” Her mother just laughed and hugged her. “Oh sweetie, I’ll miss you so much!” Hermione bid her parents a tearful good bye and apparated with her things at the front of the Burrow.

The first thing she heard was the blocked out noise coming from the upper floors, some sort of white noise permeating the air, a side effect of poorly casted silencio charm. She smiled, seems like the younger Weasleys are trying to do something out of their mum’s hearing. She levitated her things and walked towards the front door and just as she was raising her had to knock, the door opened and she found herself smothered in a bear hug by a certain redhead.

“Hermione! I missed you so much! “Molly said after parting from the hug. “Same here Molly, it’s been quite a while.” She said as she went inside, the trail of luggage following her and dropping at her side as she sat on a chair. Molly grabbed her wand and flicked at the pile of bags, vanishing them, most probably to the room Hermione shared with Ginny.

The matron sat down with her, summoning a pot of tea she just brewed and poured them both a cup. “So,” Molly started, “how are your parents doing?” Hermione took a sip from her cup and swallowed, “They’ve been doing well. It was quite a debacle when they remembered and realized what I did. But they understood.” 

Molly held her hand reassuringly, urging her to continue. “When I got the letter from Minerva, I thought they wouldn’t want me to go back. After everything that happened, I would’ve gladly accepted it as punishment. But for some reason, they urged me to go.” Molly smiled, “Of course they would dear! They’re your parents, no matter how angry or mad they might be at the world you live in, they would never deny it to you if they know it’s where you’re happy. Why if any of my children decided to move into the muggle world, I would have supported them as well. I’d miss them terribly of course but if that’s where they feel they belong then who am I to deny them that?”

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Hermione excused herself. She went up and felt around, looking for the room with the silencing spell. She finally reached the last room, the Twins’ room, and felt a weird vibration coming from the inside. She wandlessly casted an Alohomora and opened the door. She was bombarded by the noise of people shouting, some tiny explosions from a set of exploding snap cards, and music from a muggle radio that was playing a song by   
One Direction. The noise gradually faded when the inhabitants of the room noticed the open door and the smiling Hermione that stood on the doorway.

A collection of “Hermione!-s” are heard and the said girl was pulled into a huge group hug by everyone in the room. The greetings lasted for almost 10 minutes before everything settled down. Hermione sat on a chair as she watched everyone return to what they were doing. 

A glass of butterbeer was placed beside her, she looked up and saw George Weasley holding another glass, this time of Firewhiskey, on another hand. The boy sat down beside her, “Hey”, Hermione clinked their glasses, “Hey”. The two sat quietly for a minute, both deep in thought.

“So, how’re you doing?” Hermione asked, not looking at the boy beside her, knowing full well that he understood what she meant. The boy hadn’t been the same since the death of his twin. “Quite well, if I say so myself. The others we’re very supportive of course, all of them lost a son or a brother… It’s just to me, it feels like half of myself was gone forever.” 

Hermione just listened, “Sometimes, I dream of him, telling me to take my time and prank the hell out of everyone for him. I know that if he could really talk to me, that’s probably what he would actually say.” The boy chuckled, “Percy’s been helping me you know? Percy of all people. I talked to him once, asked him about the sudden change. Turns out he was with him when he died, he told me he was laughing when he died. It helps, you know, knowing that his last moments were happy before he was taken from us. Percy decided that if he would never see Fred smile of laugh again, then the least he could do was help me make everyone smile and laugh again” The boy moved, and Hermione saw him wipe a tear that fell from his cheek. 

The boy turned to her and grinned, “So, what has our golden girl been up to lately?” Hermione groaned at the moniker, something the press made up in their never ending articles about the three of them. “Well for starters,” she began, “Minerva invited me to return to Hogwarts and redo my 7th year. I said yes” The boy laughed, “Only you Hermione Granger, receiver of Order of Merlin First Class, and the dream member of half the departments in the Ministry would return to school to finish your studies.” 

His laughter seemed to draw the attention of others in the room, and everyone gathered around them. “What’s so funny?” Harry asked as he sat down on the floor in front of the two, “Hermione’s going back to school” George wheezed out, still laughing. “Wait, weren’t you invited by the ministry to work for them? All divisions were pretty much fighting with each other on where you’ll get assigned” said Ron, sitting beside Harry. “I know right! That’s why it’s hilarious” said George after managing to calm down.

Hermione looked like she was about to protest when Ginny shushed her, “Wait, so if you’re going back, and for some reason I didn’t become Head Girl even though McGonagall knows damn well that I deserve the job, then does that mean?” the girl didn’t finish and opted to raise one of her eyebrows. Hermione, understanding the question, simply nodded. “Oh you lucky bitch!” Ginny shouted and the whole room exploded with congratulations. “Merlin, you’re so lucky I love you Mione, had it been anyone else, I would’ve screamed at McGonagall and whoever the chit she picked about the stupidity of the choice she made.” Ginny laughed and hugged Hermione.

“Oh Ginny, I’m so sorry I took the position from you. I can owl McGonagall and tell her I’m resigning from my po-“she was once again shushed by the Weasley girl, “No, no Mione, I’m happy for you. And to be honest, it’s a relief that you got it, it means I get to have more free time this year to myself”. Hermione sighed with relief, she thought her decision upset the girl, she then turned to Harry and Ron. “How about you two?” The two boys grinned, “Harry and I got accepted into the Auror program, we already started training last week.” Hermione hugged the two and congratulated them both.

The group spent the whole day having fun, only coming down when called on by Molly for meals or errands. By the end of the day, Hermione was exhausted. She welcomed the bed as she laid down, Ginny already silently snoring on the bed beside her. She smiled as she remembered the day, her parents accepted her decision and her friends are there for her.

As she fell asleep, a fleeting thought came to her mind. I wonder who the Head Boy would be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Originally published in Wattpad in the name of PlatinumWriter.
> 
> Hey guys! This is my first time publishing here so bare with me if it takes a couple of week before I get settled with the style. Anyways, I'm really sorry for Fred's part, trust me when I say I was crying when I typed that. I had to cut a couple of paragraphs because things were getting a little on the emotional side and I don't want that on the very first chapter.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys would enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Ginny goes to Diagon Alley.

Chapter Two: Diagon Alley

Hermione woke up to a myriad of sounds emanating from all sides of the room: To her side was a very asleep and snoring Ginevra, drool still falling from her mouth, she can hear Molly calling out to all inhabitants of the house to come down for breakfast, and the sounds of men cussing and things tumbling over as they got ready for whatever their agenda is for today. Hermione grinned at the familiarity of everything.

She sat up and got of the bed, stretching her limbs until she heard a satisfying crack. She then went to get her wand from under her pillow and moved away from the Ginny, deciding that it was safe enough, she whispered "aguamenti" and laughed as the stream of water spouted out from her wand and splashed the sleeping girl, who abruptly woke up. Still sputtering from the water, Ginny grabbed her own wand and directed a Bat Bogey Hex towards the laughing figure of Hermione who was caught off guard she barely dogged the hex. "Get up, your mum's calling us for breakfast and we still need to go to Diagon Alley" Hermione said, dodging another projectile, this time a pillow, set off by the grumbling witch. She went to the bathroom and took a quick bath and got ready for the day, Ginny soon came after her and Hermione stayed in the room to dry her hair while waiting for the redhead to finish.

Hermione went down, Ginny soon following after her. Upon reaching the kitchen, they were both bombarded by the smell of bacon, mashed potatoes, baked muffins, and other breakfast items that Molly somehow managed to put up in just a short time. Upon seeing the two girls, Molly smiled and ushered them to the table, "Sit, you two. Arthur already left for work and the boys are still getting ready. Though I doubt they'll stay long for breakfast." Molly sat with them, a pot of tea in hand and poured each of them a cup. "Thanks Molly, figured we head to Diagon Alley early before the morning rush. With the 8th year program I bet it'll be worse than before" said Hermione in between bites of eggs.

Halfway through breakfast, a staggering Ron and Harry went down, with Ron still trying to tie his robes the right way. Hermione flicked her wand at him and his robes righted themselves, much to the redhead's relief, "Thanks Mione". "Come on Ron, we only have 20 minutes before the meeting and Kingsley said he has something to tell us before it starts so we have to get going" said Harry as he tried to pat down his messy hair. The redhead stared longingly at the spread on the table, seeing this, Molly summoned containers from the kitchen and packed the two boys enough food for four people and sent them away. Both boys bid them goodbye, with Ron's coming out slightly garbled with him already stuffing a piece of bacon in his mouth, before apparating away.

Hermione and Ginny finished eating just as a groggy George stumbled his way in, seemingly drawn to the smell of breakfast. He managed to utter a "bye" and "stay safe" just as they apparated out. They appeared at a little alcove in Diagon Alley, just a couple of blocks away from Flourish and Blotts. "So," said Ginny, "Since I doubt your robes survived running around the continent for a year, I suggest you get yourself fitted for new robes while I go get our books. We can just meet at Florean's when we're both done". "Oh, I guess it is better that way, I did need new robes, and my old ones barely fit me. But wouldn't getting my books along with yours be a hassle? I've seen the course work, we have almost a dozen subjects each" "Nah, I'll just vanish them to our room once I bought them, mum taught me how to work the wards so we can just send everything once we got them."

Agreeing on Ginny's suggestion, Hermione set out to Madame Malkin's while the other girl headed towards Flourish and Blotts. Entering the shop, she was greeted by a girl she's never seen before, thinking she was another costumer she asked, "Excuse me, have you seen where Madame Malkin went?" The girl turned to look at her with a smile, upon seeing who she is, she immediately summon a small pedestal and guided her to it. "Miss Granger! Hi! I'm Adelaide, Madame Malkin's apprentice. She's indisposed at the moment, something about too much Odgen's the night before. How can I help you?"

"Just to get fittings for new Hogwarts robes. The school gave the previous 7th years a chance to return so I signed up for it, unfortunately my old robes don't fit me anymore." The girl just hummed in response, pins and measuring tapes flying around as she took notes of her sizes. The rest of the time was spent in comfortable silence, except for the occasional yelp of Hermione when a pin jabbed particularly hard and the girl's profuse apologies.

"All done! Please come back within an hour to collect them." Hermione paid the girl and turned for the exit. Just as she was about to go, the door opened, revealing a very familiar face. "Malfoy" She stared at the boy, having not seen him since his and his mother's trial at the ministry. He looked different from before, gone was the proud posture and perpetual smirk or sneer on his face, now his face remained sombre, monotone, as if hiding whatever he's feeling or thinking from the world, which is probably what he's doing. "Granger" He nodded at her, briefly meeting her eyes before turning away from her. Trying to escape the somehow awkward situation, she went out and trudged her way to Florean's.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour somehow managed to remain the same despite the war. The faded but still somewhat vibrant colours decorating the entrance and the sweet scent of combined ice cream flavours that wafted to anyone nearby. Hermione went inside, the sound of chimes almost echoing in the empty parlour. She went to the counter and she was greeted by a ragged but smiling Florean, "Miss Granger! How nice to see you again." "Hello Florean, it's been quite a while yes." The owner chuckled and gave her usual without asking, not that he needed to.

She went outside to sit on the parasol-ed seats, determined to take in everything around her while she was out. It's been months since she's been alone. She took a lick on her ice cream, two scoops of mint ice cream with milk and white chocolates that would've made her parent's faint. It was her guilty pleasure, something she so rarely eat. She relaxed on her seat, taking in some of the sun while waiting for Ginny.

Ginny arrived some time later looking rather harried, "Sorry, I was harassed by some of the books. Did you know that there was a Monster book of Monsters for first years?" the girl visibly shuddered. Hermione winced in sympathy, remembering her old encounter with the said book. Ginny went inside the shop and reappeared with a cone of her own. The two finished their ice creams before setting out to buy their remaining stuff.

They got their potion ingredients at the Apothecary along with new cauldrons, both deciding that they're both due for a new one. They also went to Eeylops Owl Emporium, Hermione bought some treats for Crookshanks while Ginny browsed for an owl of her own, then deciding to skip the whole thing. "Might as well just use Pig, I doubt Ron's gonna need him much anyways. Finally, they stopped at Scribbulus's to get new parchment and quills. The store was also having a sale on customized stamps that fascinated the two. Hermione got herself one that has a witch's hat and her initials engraved in cursive while Ginny picked one with an engraving of a Snitch.

Vanishing all their things to their room at the Burrow, the two followed suit and apparated away. They were greeted by an empty house, apart from Molly who was tatting lace at the living room while listening to Celestina Warbeck on the radio. The two greeted her, the lady offering to make them snacks in response to which they declined. They went to their room, which was now filled with shopping bags from the bed to the floor.

The two sat down and arranged their things, chatting as they did so. "Hey Gin", "Yes Mione?" "Have you seen Malfoy lately?" The girl turned to Hermione with an inquiring look, "I haven't seen him since Fred's funeral, why?" "Just wondering, I haven't seen him since their trial and I wondered why he looks so subdued." "Harry visits him at the Manor from time to time, him being sort of like Malfoy's parole officer after testifying for him. He says that Malfoy has been really quiet lately. He's kinda hoping the guy has changed, it'll make his image better and the ministry officials would stop pestering Harry for pleading for his pardon."

The two strayed from the topic and proceeded to discuss school and NEWTS as they fixed their things. After fixing their stuff, the two decided to go out and spent the day frolicking around the grounds, dueling, and just staring into nothing until Molly called them for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys! Here's the 2nd chapter as promised. Sorry it's kinda short but's the best I could do since I had a pretty hectic week, anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it! Love ya.
> 
> PlatinumWriter signing off…


	4. Chapter Three

Time with the Weasleys passed, and soon it was time for Hermione and Ginny to go back to Hogwarts. With their things already packed, they merely got ready for their trip and went down to get breakfast. Unlike the previous days wherein it was just Molly and the two, today, almost all inhabitants of the Burrow was there to send them away, all except Harry and Ron who were needed early at the Ministry. 

After breakfast, the two gave their goodbyes, opting to go to King’s Cross by themselves so as to not attract attention. “Good bye you two! I’m sure you’ll do well.” Arthur said, giving the both of them a hug. Molly though was less subtle, she tackled the two into a bear hug, crying as she said “Oh I’ll miss the both of you! Be sure to come home during holidays!” “Of course Molly!” Hermione managed to utter while being within the almost suffocating hug of the Weasley matriarch. 

Once the two managed to escape the chaos within the Burrow, Hermione grabbed Ginny by the hand and apparated them to her room in Hampstead. “Hermione?” Ginny asked, a little perplexed of their unusual destination, “Sorry Gin, I just remembered I left Crookshanks back here when I went to the Burrow. I’ll just take him back and we’ll head to King’s Cross immediately. The redhead nodded and placed their bags on Hermione’s bed. She accompanied Hermione as the girl went out to look for her cat.

Ginny can here Hermione talking to her parents who must’ve woken due to their apparition. “Bye mum! Bye dad!” Hermione said, holding a somehow sleeping kneazle in her arms as she entered her room. “Are we going?” Ginny asked, taking hold of their bags once again, Hermione nodded, shifting her cat onto her arm and held Ginny’s hand with the other and apparated away. 

They reappeared on Platform 9 ¾, stumbling slightly when Ginny accidentally dropped their baggage. The two laughed as they took their bag from the floor, the sound attracting the attention of other people on the platform. Recognizing the two, some of the people gave ‘whoops’ and cheered for the two. Hermione groaned while Ginny giggled, “Guess we’re still famous”. Hermione ignored Ginny’s tone and dragged her luggage to the train, eager to look for a free cabin.

The two found themselves an empty compartment near the end of the train. The two went in and arranged their luggage on the compartments and settled down. Hermione brought out a book to read while Ginny stared at the window. A couple of minutes of silence passed when Ginny groaned, “Ugh this is boring, what do you suppose the boys are doing right now? I mean they’re doing auror training, it’s gotta be more fun than this.” 

Hermione looked up from her book and turned her gaze at Ginny, “Probably magical theory or something related to that. They would need to learn how to analyze spells and the sort when they start doing real jobs after all.” She turned her back to her reading, “I’d probably like it, but it’d be torture for your brother.” The two girls laughed, both knowing full well how Ronald hated all theoretical studies, preferring a hands on approach on things.

The quiet lasted for another minute, until there was a slight groan and creak from the train. The Express started moving forward, starting on a low speed, gradually increasing speed as it gained distance from the station. The two didn’t speak, their focuses being monopolized by their own activities.

The first few minutes of the ride was uneventful apart from some hurried first years opening the door in hopes of finding an empty room, they were rather disappointed when they find two grown witches taking up the space, hastily apologizing before closing the door. At one point, some Slytherin 8th years frantically opened their door, as if in search of something.

“Oh, it’s you.” Said the visibly dishevelled Slytherin. Hermione and Ginny tensed, “Hey, Parkinson” said Ginny, narrowing her eyes at the girl. The girl looked hesitant and was about to leave, when she took a deep breath and entered the compartment, Hermione scanned the girl who seemed to be doing her best not to gag at the situation, “What is it that you want Parkinson.” The girl looked at her, then to the badge she was sporting on her already worn uniform, “Granger, I-“the girl hesitated, then left.

“That was…interesting” Hermione said, quite confused about what happened, Ginny glared at the door as if it was at fault for letting the girl in. “What d’you think that was?” Hermione said, turning to Ginny who merely shrugged, “The snakes have been lying low lately, it’s probably awkward for Parkinson, especially after last time.” Hermione hummed, remembering the incident. The two started chatting about the different houses and the current condition of their friends when suddenly, a resounding boom shook the train.

The two grabbed their wands, rushing out the compartment in search of the origin of the noise. Outside their compartment, some debris from wherever the sound came from was scattered everywhere, following the trail of the debris, the two neared the compartment with the most destruction. The two gasped followed by another as a frantic Parkinson appeared behind them, in front of them was a pool of blood, trailing from within the compartment near them.

The three went inside, Pansy screamed. In front of them was a heavily injured Draco Malfoy sprawled across the compartment floor. His clothes were torn apart and on his skin, scrawled all over his body, were the words Death Eater. Hermione and Pansy immediately went to check on him as Ginny started clearing the room. Hermione casted a diagnostic spell on the blonde to make sure of whatever treatment she is to administer, Pansy started repairing the clothes of the boy.

Hermione casted several spells to staunch the bleeding, which was coming from different parts of his body, and to heal all minor scratches around his body. “He’s okay, but he does have concussion and the bruising may be a sign of internal bleeding but it could also be nothing. It’s best if we take him to Madame Pomfrey.” Hermione said to Pansy who was busy stroking the boy’s hair. The girl nodded and stood up, the two casted a Wingardium Leviosa and walked out the compartment with them being on either side of the boy’s body, Ginny trailing behind them.

The sound roused many students from their own compartment and the hall was surrounded by confused older students and scared first years. It was quite a sight when the students parted, revealing the head girl and a prefect levitating an unconscious boy with them. Ginny stayed behind them trying to settle down the younger students with other prefects.

The three girls managed to reach the train infirmary without any hitch, apart from a couple of bumps on the unconscious boy whenever they turn a corner. Pansy pushed open the door and helped Hermione manoeuvre Draco through the door and placed him on a bed. “Goodness, what happened!” Screamed by the mediwitch when she saw the boy.

Madame Pomfrey immediately casted diagnostic spells on the boy, Hermione leaned in trying to determine what spell it was, while Ginny and Pansy sat on another bed, the latter fidgeting. Pomfrey then turned to a wall where a portrait of Albus Dumbledore was hung. “Albus, please call on Minerva and tell her of the situation.” The image of the former headmaster simply nodded and walked out of the frame, returning a few seconds later. The mediwitch returned to fixing up the injured boy, bandages flying around and wrapping themselves on the injured parts while she force fed the unconscious body several potions to help him recover.

Just as the last bandage finished applying itself, the door flew open revealing Minerva McGonagall. “What is the meaning of this? Miss Granger, what happened?” Hermione turned to the headmistress and replied, “We have no idea professor. Ginny and I are staying within our compartment when we heard what seems to be an explosion. We came out to investigate and saw the wreck on Mr. Malfoy’s compartment, Ms. Parkinson also made her way to us when she arrived at the scene. There we found Draco covered in injuries I would assume caused by the explosion.”

The professor pinched the bridge of her nose, not even within the palace yet there’s already an incident, “What do you think could’ve caused this incident?” Hermione sighed and looked down, “I think, professor, that this is done by a student,” gasps were heard from the adult inhabitants of the room, “I think it was done deliberately, as we saw writing on Mr. Malfoy’s body, calling him a death eater. “ The professor frowned at the statement, then turned to Ginny and Pansy, “Ms. Weasley, Ms. Parkinson, please head out and help your fellow prefects deal with the students, I have some things to talk about with your head girl.” Ginny looked at Hermione with concern, but still nodded and went out, Pansy looked as if she was gonna throw a fit but at the glare of the headmistress, she too went out.

“Ms. Granger, I’m afraid I must ask you to accompany Mr. Malfoy until we arrive while Madame Pomfrey and I shall inform the rest of the faculty and hold an investigation. Whoever student did this shall be severely punished, no matter what reasons they may have.” Hermione nodded, understanding the situation. While many may still be grieving from the war, it’s not reason enough to hurt someone else in search of revenge.

The two adults talked to Albus’ portrait, Hermione looked at the boy again, only now noticing something from his pocket. She picked the badge, its gold colour glinting in the light and gasped, “Professor?” Minerva stepped away from her conversation and turned to Hermione, “Why does Malfoy have this?” 

“Why Miss Granger I thought it would be obvious, Mr. Malfoy is the Head Boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys! Here's chapter 3 for you, I hope you guys liked it. I worked specially hard for this because the initial story for this chapter is pretty long and I needed to cut some parts and add it on the next chapter. Anyways, don't hesitate to comment! I would love to hear from you guys.
> 
> PlatinumWriter signing out...


	5. Chapter 5

“Head boy?”

Hermione gave the professor a baffled look, “B-but Professor-“McGonagall sent the girl a stern look that stopped her statement. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose once again, “Ms. Granger, I understand your sentiments, but this decision wasn’t made by me alone. The aurors tasked to supervise the Malfoys, as well as Professor Dumbledore all agreed that this decision would benefit not only the Malfoys but also the school, I will not be accepting any more complaints about the matter Ms. Granger. I trust you’ll take care of Mr. Malfoy in our absence.”

The professor left the infirmary followed by Madame Pomfrey that remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. Hermione sighed and sat at the nurse’s chair and glanced at the blonde. Even in sleep, his face was still locked into a frown, seemingly disturbed by whatever he’s feeling in his sleep. She silently sent a calming charm his way and his face finally relaxed.

“I assume you’re confused Ms. Granger” A voice said near her, she looked up and saw the portrait of her former headmaster, his eyes ever twinkling as if he was a reflection from a mirror instead of a painting. She nodded, “Why did you think making Malfoy head boy be a good idea sir?” the portrait hummed, “It would give Mr. Malfoy a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the Wizarding world,” Hermione was about to say something when the portrait continued, “and if he succeeds, he could also help the students who experienced the horror of the previous year to move on.”

Hermione pondered at the portrait’s statement, “It would be a difficult year for all of us Ms. Granger, we all lost something during the war and as Head students, it would be your job to help the student trust each other again, only when we all become united as a school once again can we start to heal.” Hermione chuckled and said, “Well we did managed to defeat Voldemort, I guess campaigning for House Unity would distract students enough from everything that’s happened.” She turned to her new partner as her former headmaster darted out of his portrait.

“G-granger?” a hoarse voice whispered, she immediately went to the boy’s side as he tried to move, “Wait, and let me check on you first”, she started casting spells to check on his vitals. Deeming him okay, she immediately helped him sit up from his position.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, the boy groaned, “Like the whole Hogwarts express trampled me after being dropped by a hippogriff” when he finally managed to find a comfortable position, he looked at Hermione, “So what happened?” The girl looked at her incredulously, “Are you serious?” “Would I ask if I’m not?” The girl looked troubled, she summoned a chair and sat beside the bed, “We found you unconscious in a wrecked compartment, we assumed you’ve been attacked by students since…” the girl trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase her next statement, “Since what Granger” the girl swallowed the lump on her throat, “Someone wrote the word ‘Death Eater’ all over your body” Silence reigned within the room, Hermione fidgeted. The boy felt overly awkward, “So, uh Granger-““Hermione” he gave her a confused look, “Call me Hermione. It wouldn’t be good for the students to see their own head students wary of each other.

“Oh…the you need to start calling me Draco, Hermione” the girl thought for a moment, “I don’t think so, I think I can get away with calling you ferret” Hermione laughed, pleased with her own statement while the boy just stared at her, then started to chuckle causing him to bend over in pain. Hermione immediately started rubbing his back, as if to ease the pain, once the pain subsided, the boy looked at the girl beside him and groaned, plopping himself down on the bed once again. “Well isn’t that just pathetic” he said, throwing his arms to cover his eyes, effectively exposing his now faded Dark Mark. 

“I’m sorry” he suddenly said, confusing the Hermione, “What for?” Draco removed his arms from his eyes and stared at the girl, “For being the Brightest Witch of Our Age Gra-Hermione, you sure are dense” “Well it’s not me who’s just blurting things out without context.” The boy groaned in frustration, “Still annoying as ever” Hermione looked about to retaliate when he continued, “But still. I am sorry for everything. For the teasing, the insults, for letting the death eaters in and…” he stopped, as if hesitant of what he was about to say next. Hermione waited. “For watching and doing nothing.”

Once again there was silence, no words are needed. Both of them know what he was talking about. “It’s alright” Hermione replied “But-“she shushed him, “You couldn’t have done anything. I was pretty much catatonic, the boys were imprisoned, had you done anything, all of us would’ve died right then and there. Stop blaming yourself for something you could never have stopped.” Draco sighed, “Even so, I’m sorry. I’m not asking you or everyone to forgive me, frankly I don’t think I can even forgive myself, but I really just want to say sorry. Had I not let them in, maybe none of this would’ve happened”

“You really think they would’ve stopped trying to infiltrate Hogwarts? They would’ve killed you and moved to another willing student. There’s no changing what we all did so stop thinking what things may have been. Start focusing on what’s in front of you.” She gave him a stern look, “McGonagall made you Head Boy so you can clear your name and help the students move on from the horrors of the war. I suggest you start thinking how you’ll managed that.” She stood up, dragging the chair with her and procured her book from her bag, wanting to get away from the awkward atmosphere between them. Draco stared at her figure and nodded off to sleep.

Hermione silently glanced at the now sleeping figure of the boy, wondering how the year would turn out. She’s sure that there’ll be an outrage once the head students are allowed, no one left the war unscathed and those in the wrong side of the war would surely receive the brunt of the of the resentment of the students. Just the happenings of today is proof of that, she wondered why Draco didn’t even seem to care if his attackers are caught or not.

Hermione let her thoughts consume her throughout the whole ride, not heeding the ruckus outside of the infirmary. She broke from her reverie when she felt the train slowing down. There are no windows in the infirmary but based on how tired she was feeling despite barely doing anything the whole day, she assumed that it’s already sundown. She stood up and stretched until she heard the satisfying cracks. She went to the sleeping blonde and gently shook him awake, afraid she might cause any pain.

Draco woke up to the slight shaking of his shoulders. A hand guided him as he slowly sat up from the bed, only when his vision cleared that he saw the hand was from none other than the current head girl, “Thanks” he said. The girl nodded as she helped him stand up, a wave of dizziness hit him as he tried to stood upright, luckily it cleared away just as fast as it happened. “We need to go, can you walk?” he heard Hermione say, he just nodded.

The two walked out of the infirmary and headed straight for the exit. Most of the students had already left, some were already seated on a carriage while others are still looking for a free one. They walked out, looking for their ride, they went straight to the front of the thestrals where they found the carriage dedicated only for head students. 

The ride was silent and awkward, not only from the lack of conversation in their carriage but also from the others. Hermione glanced at the other carriages behind them and saw most of the students staring at the front of their ride. Almost all of them can see the thestrals now. The fact broke her heart, it’s one thing that Harry, Ron, and her suffered to end the war, it’s another when she saw 2nd year students, no more than 12, staring at the thestrals with fear. Everyone lost something during the war. Others lost family, others lost friends, others like these children lost their innocence and their chance to enjoy their childhood. No matter how happy they may be, their past will always be marred by the horrors of the war.

She glanced at the boy beside her. He never said anything apart from the little thanks you when she helped him up. He kept his head low, as if raising it is physically painful for him. Nothing like the old Malfoy who would strut like a proud peacock, acting as if he owned the whole place. Everyone lost something during the war. She wondered how he must be feeling right now.

After a long and awkward silence, the thestrals finally came to a stop. She gently stepped down from the carriage and stared at the familiar doors of Hogwarts. She went in, followed by Draco, who was then followed by the rest of the students. She watched as the students went for their own tables while her and the blonde head towards the Head table. A few moments later, the doors of the Great Hall opened once more, revealing this year’s group of first years. Headmistress McGonagall stood up.

“Welcome to Hogwarts.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Here's Chapter 4! I hope you guys enjoy it. The scenes here were supposed to be included in the previous chapter but I thought it would be too long so I decided to cut it into two, I tried to add a couple more stuff to make it longer. Sorry if it's a lil short.
> 
> PlatinumWriter signing out...


	6. Chapter Five

The night proceeded like it always had, not a single mention of the war or the happenings of the previous years apart from a side note about the “rather unfortunate circumstances” that happened. This caused mixed feelings for some people present, Hermione Granger is one of them.

She gritted her teeth, something her parents would highly find deplorable, unable to find the reason for her distress. She remained silent throughout the whole things, merely watching with disinterest during the sorting and barely paying attention to the new Headmistress’ McGonagall’s speech. She feels lost, unable to determine why she feels annoyed at the whole thing. She glanced at the blonde beside her, wondering if he too feels the same thing as her.

The whole ceremony ended and the feast begun. The whole of the Great Hall was filled with the sounds of conversations and cutlery scraping on plates. Some ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ were heard from awestruck first years at the magnificent feast that suddenly appeared before them. However magnificent the feast may be, Draco Malfoy was not having any of it.

He stared at his food, eating yet not tasting anything. The happenings of the day leaving a bad taste in his mouth. He glanced at Granger beside him, there was a slight frown on her face and her movements seem mechanical, not unlike his own. Anyone else watching wouldn’t have noticed and it’s only the short distance between them that allowed him to witness her reactions. He wondered what could’ve happened that caused this reaction, was it the McGonagall’s speech or was it caused by being near him. Draco ignored the lingering curiosity and proceeded eating, still unable to enjoy the food. 

Nothing eventful happened throughout the feast, and soon it was time for the students to retire to their bed. Students all went their ways, prefects guided first years to their respective dormitories. Hermione stared at them wistfully, reminiscing her own experience of being lead around an enormous magical castle she’s seen for the first time. Though my own first year adventure is was rather far from the ordinary. 

When the rest of the students have left, she and Draco turned to McGonagall, the headmistress turned to them, the stern expression never leaving her face. She waited till only the three of them are left within the Great Hall. The professor cleared her throat, “As both of you may know, it is customary for the Head Students to stay within their respective house’s dormitory, however, with both of your cases, the faculty and the Board of Governors agreed that the two of you need to be separated from the rest of your house.”

The two looked at each other, their expressions in sync. They both know why their professors came to this conclusion, with their participation in the previous war, they’re both considered celebrities, and enemies by either side. However, “But professor, if the matter is related to our participation to the events of last year, wouldn’t it be better to separate all those involved form the rest of the students?” Hermione argued.

“Well that was the original plane, but the restoration of Hogwarts still on going, some rooms of the castle still remains unavailable which makes us unable to provide room for the returning 8th years apart from the extra room provided by the original dormitories. Apart from that, you both know that the tensions are still high between the two sides, as shown by Mr. Malfoy’s incident just this morning.” The two heads nodded, remembering the violence that occurred just this morning.

Silence reigned for a minute among the three, until Draco finally spoke, “So what you’re saying is, since the relationships of the two sides are still unstable, it would be best to separate them both for now. But in order to show a semblance of unity, you’re going to put the two of us, the most prominent members of both sides together in one dormitory. Not only are we just what you need to show house unity, we’re also the ones you’re sure to be able to control”. Hermione gasped at the blonde’s words while McGonagall just nodded.

“You’re right Mr. Malfoy” the professor said.  
“But professor-“  
“Miss Granger! While it may sound bad, this is the best decision the board of governors and the ministry can come up with! We need to show the students that the Gryffindor and Slytherin house can get along, that the TWO OF YOU can get along” 

“There’s no changing this Granger,” Draco said, cutting off an indignant Hermione, “  
The school needs two prominent people from either side that they can control. As you’re one on of the so called ‘Golden Trio’ and you’re reputation of upholding the rules as much as you can, you’re the perfect candidate for the ‘light’ side. While me and my… participation during our 6th year along with my probation makes me the best choice for the representative of the ‘dark side.” The girl looked down, understanding the situation.

“I’m sorry that it has to come to this but Mr. Malfoy is right. As of now, the two of you are the shining figureheads of the two sides, and if the both of you are seen being able to stick together, it would help sway the views of your classmates. Now if this discussion is over, I’ll show you two your room.”

The professor led them to a familiar series of stairs and hallways until they reached their destination. “Isn’t this-?” The professor just nodded, knowing what the question entails. She kept walking until they reached the end of the hallway where they discovered a portrait of a very familiar figure.

“So glad of you to finally arrive Minerva. It seems as if this year’s batch of head students are a perfect recipe for disaster.” A very bored looking Severus Snape said. “Greetings Severus. For the Greater Good.” Said Minerva, not really paying attention to the portrait. Beside the portrait, an ornate door appeared. Minerva pushed open the door revealing a spacious room. 

All three of them entered, the two students gawked at their surroundings as they followed their professor to a rather spacious dining room with a rather large long table fit for more than 20 people. The professor took a seat at the head table while the other two sat on either side of her. “This room will be your dormitory. The room you saw upon entering will act as the common room, there you can entertain guests such as students asking for help and such. This dining room will be used for holding meetings among the other prefects. As heads, it would be your job to set schedules and patrols for the rest of the prefects to do.” The two nodded along, waiting for the lady to finish.

“Apart from meetings, you are also able to eat here during your free time. This is only if you want to. To get food, you’ll only need to read aloud the food you want in the menu that is displayed in front of you. That menu would be updated daily. Apart from this, your dorms are on the other side of the common room. There would be two doors leading to your rooms, you can choose wherever you prefer and decorate your rooms however you want. Within the rooms are an en suite bathroom for each of you. You can use this common room however you please. The entrance disappears the moment you enter, to leave, you need to say in front of the wall you entered in the words, ‘Always’. Are there any queries?”

“Isn’t this a little too much for just two students professor?” Hermione asked, stealing glances at the room, it was really quite spacious for just two people. “Miss Granger, while the school may have decided to thrust all this upon the both of you, and while I may agree that this is the best possible decision to make at the moment, it doesn’t mean that I agree to the fact that the both of you deserve such a treatment. This is the least I could do for the two of you.” 

The girl nodded, knowing that none of her words would convince the professor otherwise. “Besides, I believe that I can trust the both of you to behave appropriately.” The professor added. The two heads looked at each other and blushed, “Of course professor. I assure you such inappropriate activities will not happen. Granger here is too much of a prude for that to happen.” The blonde said with a smirk, which caused an indignant Hermione to slap the back of his head. “Mr. Malfoy!” The professor said with a frown.

A few minutes later, the professor left the two alone to explore their new dormitory. “Pretty neat huh Granger?” Draco said, plopping himself down on a couch, “Cozy dorm, en suite bath, and even privacy! And here I thought the Slytherin dorms are the best among the best.” Hermione remained standing, scanning the entirety of the place, “Well it’s a little too much but I do appreciate the privacy.” Draco snorted, “Just imagine how the first years would react once they see big ol’ celebrity Hermione Granger in their dorms.” Hermione cringed, she knew perfectly well how bad her house would react.

“Come on, let’s check on our rooms. I wanna have a good sleep before dealing with everything tomorrow.” She said, trudging her way to one of the doors which she assumes lead to their rooms. Without asking the boy, she entered the right room and closed the door. Draco following suit entered the left one.

Once inside, Hermione saw her luggage appear on a corner, beside a regular sized dresser. She scanned the room, a grin appearing on her face as she progressed. At the center edge of the room was a large queen sized bed, beside it was a sizeable nightstand with a magical lampshade, besides that was a small vanity where some of her things are already arranged. She opened her luggage, grabbing a pair of pajamas and went towards a small door on a corner of the room. 

Inside was a bathroom. A beautiful bathroom. Near the door was a vanity with a counter that also functions as a sink, beside it was a toilet which is currently closed, beside it was a small hose that she assumes functions as a bidet. There was a glass door partition separating the toilet from the shower. Beyond the partition was a bathtub and a shower. “Not quite like the prefect’s bathroom but this is also amazing.” 

Hermione took a shower and changed into her PJs. With the stress and exhaustion from the day weighing on her, Hermione feel asleep the moment her head touched the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~
> 
> Hey guys! So sorry for the late update. I planned on updating earlier today but there was a problem with my internet connection and my laptop was having trouble restarting.
> 
> Anyways, here's chapter five! It was supposed to be a filler chapter but I think i went a little overboard with the descriptions hahaha. I hope you guys enjoy it.
> 
> PlatinumWriter signing out ...


	7. Chapter Six

Draco woke up from a nightmare to another nightmare.

It was the usual stuff, the murders, the tortures, the piercing screams of his victims as he took their life with regret in accordance to the will of a madman. Everything, the visions, the sounds are all too vivid. All too real. It was then that a piercing scream echoed through his dreams. This one feels even more real. His ears hurt, the screams continue. He struggled to shift the view of his dreams, trying and failing to find the source of the sound.

It was there that Draco woke up, the sound of the scream still ringing in his ears. It's not part of the dream. This time it's real. He stood up, unbothered by his state of undress, and bolted out. The screams grew louder, more desperate, and he knew where it's from. He knew perfectly well who owns the screams he's currently hearing. He went towards Hermione's room, banging the door as loud as he can. The door opened, revealing no one but a convulsing Hermione still in the realm of sleep within her bed.

He immediately went to her side, squeezing her hand to announce his presence. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he frantically shook her in hopes of waking her up. "Granger, Granger wake up!" He shook harder, hope blossoming within him when her screams started to dwindle. "Granger, if you don't wake up I swear I'll never let you forget about this." Her body convulsed, her screams once again growing louder, tears started falling out of her closed eyes. Her screams turned to a mantra of "NOs" and "STOPs". Feeling desperate, the blonde took a deep breath and slapped her face. Hard.

Before having the chance to regret what he did, he was encased in an almost suffocating hug, courtesy of the now woken brunette. She sobbed on his shoulder, awake but seemingly still within the nightmare she awoke from. Draco hesitantly rubbed her back, attempting to soother her, just like she did back on the train ride. "Shh, cry it out Granger, its okay." He whispered into her ear. Her cries softened into whimpers until she finally managed to calm herself.

"Thank you *hiccup* I- I didn't know what happened I-" her words trailed on as her chests started heaving, tears starting to pour once more. This time Draco didn't hesitate, he hugged her tight, rubbing her back once again. "It's okay, calm down, its okay." He kept rubbing her back till she calmed down. Draco glanced at the girl, checking if she now seems okay only to see her asleep. The two stayed in that position, with Draco sitting on her bed with a sleeping Hermione on his shoulders.

He managed to untangle the girl from their position and gently placed her on her bed. He stared at the sleeping face for a while, marveling how the normally stubborn Granger managed to show such a side to him. But I think I know what she was seeing. The thought made him frown. He knew of course, he knew exactly what moment she was remembering with those piercing screams.

He started to get up, wanting to leave when a hand shot up to grab his. "Stay… please" It was Granger, her grip on his hand still firm even when she looked barely awake. "Granger, I don't think you'd want that" He tried to pry his hands free, only for her grip to grow tighter. "P-please?" Draco stared at her, never had she looked so pitiful, not even under the effects of the Cruciatus did she make this face. He sighed, "Scooch over Granger, I am not settling for just your floors."

Hermione gingerly wiggled her way to the other side of the bed, much to the blonde's amusement. Draco sighed and summoned a shirt, it wouldn't do for Granger seeing him half naked in her bed when her head starts to clear. Donning the shirt, he lied down beside her, trying to keep his distance in the small bed they both occupy. The attempt failed when the girl grabbed his arm and nuzzled on it.

"This isn't really how I envisioned my first night in Hogwarts to be, Granger" he said, his other arm covering his face, as he tried to hide a laugh. "Shut up and let me sleep" was mumbled on his arm as the girl hugged it tighter. It was at that position that the two fell asleep.

Hermione woke up feeling refreshed. Her bed was comfortable and warm, though the pillows were a little on the firm side…and the warm side. "Wait… " the girl glanced at the 'pillow' she's fervently hugging and screamed.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

"WHAT THE FUCK GRANGER!"

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE MALFOY!?"

The blonde rubbed his ears, still hurting from the sudden scream of the girl beside him. He glanced at the girl, who's currently holding a blanket against her frame, "Relax Granger, I didn't do anything to you." He said removing the blanket covering him only to see Granger covering her face with a pillow, "Merlin Malfoy cover that up!" she shouted, pointing down. He glanced where her fingers are pointed and realized what she was referring to, "Shit". He stood up, keeping his back on her, and fixed his now rumpled clothing and ran out the room.

Hermione heard a bang from outside her room and concluded that it must be Draco entering his room. She stood up, doing her usual stretches while she thought of the situation. How the heck did that Malfoy managed to sleep here. She went into the bathroom and took a bath, the events of the morning still running in her mind.

Drying herself with magic, she donned her uniform and her badge and stepped out to their common room. There she saw an agitated Malfoy fixing his tie, the blonde seems to not notice her. She sat down beside him, feeling him tense. "So, mind explaining what that whole thing was about?" The blonde stared at her in confusion, "You still don't remember?" "Remember what?"

"Granger"

"What is it, just tell me?"

"You're the one that practically begged me to stay"

"When would I eve- oh"

"Remember now?"

And damn does she remember. She grabbed her bag and covered her face as it turned red. Hearing him chuckle didn't really help. "Shut up"

"It's nothing bad you know"

"I swear Malfoy if you don't shut up, I'll hex your bullocks off"

Draco laughed, well not really laughed. He chuckled, loudly. "Really it's nothing bad. Going back hear brought back memories, had you not screamed, I myself would've been stuck in a nightmare of my own." The girl dropped her bag and glared at him.

"If you tell this to anyone, and I mean ANYONE, I swear you you'll regret it."

"Relax Granger I told you it's okay. I wouldn't want to anger the brightest witch of our age."

He suddenly stood up, smug at having the last word, and ran towards the entrance shouting "ALWAYS!" and ran out. Hermione twitched, not really knowing what in the world happened. Grabbing her bag, she went out, muttering a low "always" as she reached the entrance. She walked down the hall, narrowly missing the blonde as he went down the stairs. She should hurry too. It's bad to be late on her first day after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~
> 
> Hey guys! So I know I updated a lil early last week, I sincerely forgot that it was just a Thursday when I updated . However, I wanna keep the schedule of updating every Friday so I updated today. 
> 
> Anyways, it's been pretty hectic here so I'm really sorry for this chapter. It's probably the shortest one I posted, hopefully the shortest one even when the story's finished. I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Cherry Mango signing out...


	8. Chapter Seven

It was a rather awkward morning for Hermione. Not only did she woke up with an almost naked Draco Malfoy in her arms, the fact that it was her that practically begged him to be there might be one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, and Ron pretty much saw her naked AND having sex with Harry in that damned horcrux. 

She took her time walking to the Great Hall, she might be a little pressed for time but she can miss a couple of minutes of breakfast. She took in the reparations of the castle, everything looked almost exactly how it was before the war. With the work being this good, one can almost pretend as if the Battle of Hogwarts never happened. One can only pretend though.

She managed to reach the Great Hall without realizing it. Looking around, she saw that it was mostly filled with students now, proof enough that she’s already a couple of minutes late. She made her way to the Gryffindor table where she saw a spot reserved for her beside Ginny. She took her sit, sending an appreciative glance at Ginny for saving her a sit. She doubt she can find one of her own seeing how full the table is.

“’Hey Gin” Hermione said as she reached for the pile of toasts near her, she took a couple of pieces and returned the plate to its place, also thanking the students that handed her the marmalade and a plate of eggs. “Hey ‘Mione, I barely saw you last night, I thought you’d be the one to take us to the dorms, y’know, head girl and all.” Ginny said while slicing up her sausages. Hermione took a bite of her toast, contemplating how to explain her situation without enraging the redhead.

“Ginny! Hermione!” a voice said, the two girls looked up and saw none other than Neville Longbottom sitting down in front of them. Hermione marvelled at the powers of puberty and how it seemed to have been a little overpowered in Neville’s case. “Hey Neville.” The boy got himself some beans and toast and proceeded to face her, “Hey, I didn’t see you at the common room last night”. Ginny scooched closer to her, “Where we’re you?”

Hermione took a drink of her pumpkin juice, “Prof-I mean Headmistress McGonagall showed us our new Head Dorm.” Ginny’s eyes narrowed, “And by us you mean?” Hermione inwardly cringed, she didn’t really want to have this conversation this early in the morning, “By us I mean Draco and I Ginny, we’re the head students remember?” The redhead pursed her lips, “So what you’re saying is that McGonagall placed you AND DRACO MALFOY alone in a dorm with no other company besides during meetings?”  
Neville winced, Ginny’s tone was sharp and he’s sure that the girl won’t hesitate in confronting the headmistress about the matter, “Come on Gin, that’s Hermione you’re talking about. Malfoy would be lying unconscious with his penis removed before he can even go near her” he said, trying to keep the redhead calm. An angry Hermione may cause fear in the hearts of the enemies, but a raging Ginny Weasley can unsettle even her allies. Both have the ability to cause a disaster if they so wanted.

“Nev’s right Gin, I won’t let Draco, or anyone for the matter do anything bad to me. You know how much I want this year to be as peaceful as can be, and I won’t allow anyone disrupting that.” Her words seemed to calm the redhead and both Neville and Hermione sighed with relief. Hermione took a bit of her eggs, relishing the taste of Hogwarts food now that explanations have been given.

“Say Hermione,” Ginny started, Hermione hummed in response, her mouth full of toast and egg, “When did you start calling Malfoy as Draco?” The question was nonchalant enough, though despite that, Hermione found herself choking from the food. Taking big gulps of pumpkin juice, she managed to force the food down her throat. Both Ginny and Neville looked at her with concern, her face turned red and there are tears on her eyes from the incident.

“Sorry, it’s nothing. McGonagall and the two of us agreed that Mal-Draco and I should stop referring to each other in surnames. We need to promote the image of house unity, to avoid more incidents like yesterday.” A look of realization dawned on Ginny’s face, meanwhile confusion overtook Neville. “Wait what incident? What happened yesterday?” Hermione frowned, “Didn’t you hear what happened? I thought the prefects handled the situation with the students?”

“We did, though Parkinson and I thought it would be better not to divulge anything so we just said that an accident happened.” Ginny answered. “So, what really happened?” Hermione glanced at the Slytherin table—Draco was busy eating while Parkinson seemed to be trying yet failing to strike a conversation with him, she sighed. “We’ll explain everything later to all the prefects, we’ll also lead you to where the new prefect common room would be.” The two nodded.

It was at that time when McGonagall made her way to the Gryffindor table. “8th and 1st years, gather round, I shall now be giving you your schedules for this year.” Over a dozen first year students swarmed the professor who handed them their schedules one by one. After the little ones dispersed, the returning students fell in line. Hermione saw familiar faces like Parvati and Lee Jordan, both of whom are talking to other students that Hermione can only recognize by face having seen them during their time in the DA. 

Hermione and Neville stood at the end of the line, being prefects. Once they finally reached the professor, they were given their schedules that seems to be identical. Having done her first agenda, McGonagall ushered the two of them away from the table, “Ms. Granger, I have already instructed the prefects yesterday about today’s meeting. You and Mr. Malfoy would meet them at the library and guide them to your dorm which will now also serve as the prefect common room. Apart from today, all meetings should be planned and hosted by you and Mr. Malfoy.” Hermione nodded. 

The professor turned to Neville, “Mr. Longbottom, as the sole 8th year prefect in Gryffindor apart from Ms. Granger, I expect you to do your best to support her and her partner.” Neville nodded, “I shall do my best, Professor.” McGonagall nodded, satisfied with the answer and continued, “Apart from that, I want you to work with the other 8th year prefects from other houses.” The boy winced and the professor gave him a pointed look. “I know that it would be difficult, but if we want this peace to last, all houses must stand together. Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger already agreed to cooperate, but it will be for naught if the rest of you remain unwilling.” The boy begrudgingly agreed. McGonagall nodded and left.

Hermione sympathetically patted the boy’s back, “You’ll get there Nev.” The boy smiled at her, “Yeah, I shouldn’t be complaining, at least I’m not the one spending the rest of the school year sleeping with the ferret.” He said with a laugh while Hermione smacked his head. “We should probably say bye to Ginny before heading to class.” He said, gesturing to the redhead who was busy eating.

“Hey Ginny, we’re gonna get going, see you later?” Hermione said, taking her bag from her seat, Ginny nodded, “Oh sure, I’ll just finish this. This is probably the first time I get to eat without seeing Ron’s disgusting eating face since you guys took a hike.” The three of the laughed, remembering just how disgusting Ron’s eating face is.

Hermione and Neville proceeded to exit the Great Hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys! This one's also a bit on the shorter side, they might be filler but I still apologize. I'll try to make the next one longer. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it, though it's a lil boring.
> 
> I'll try to add a bit of class scenes but don't expect much, I'm pretty bad at scenes like those. I would still write them, our love birds need to develop their relationship after all, but I'm not promising a lot of them.
> 
> Cherry Mango signing out...


	9. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay just a heads up, this chapter would be sort of two part, though the next chapter will still be labelled as Nine. 
> 
> Another thing, this chapter is a little wordy since it kinda became some sort of therapy session for our 8th years. I've always felt that other fics with the 8th year plot kinda forget that these kids just went through war and made them act like normal apart from the main and supporting characters....so yeah I kinda wanted to address that.

The first day of classes went on without a hitch. Due to the numbers of the returning students, the 8th year schedule is shared by all houses. This means that all returning students, no matter their house, would share the same classes as the other 8th years.

Despite their numbers being less than half than they originally were, there are still over a dozen students in the classroom. Hermione new that they’re still not complete though, having seen the Slytherin students still in the Great Hall when they left. 

Hermione looked for a seat in the middle of the room, smiling unconsciously when she saw the middle portion empty like they usually were apart from some Ravenclaws who are busy talking to others. Seating at the very middle seat, she saw Neville took a seat to the empty seat on her left. “You know you don’t need to seat beside me anymore right? I’m sure you’ll get by” she said with a smile. “Nah, even without Snape here, I’d rather make sure I’ll pass. What better way to do that if not sticking closer to you.”

Hermione laughed, the sound calling everyone’s attention to her, making her blush. It was at that moment that the Slytherins entered. The silence became deafening as the newcomers took their seats. Whispers arose however, when while the others took their seat proudly in the front and others took their seat on the back with their shoulders hunched, Draco Malfoy walked on to the middle, confidently taking the seat beside Hermione.

“Granger.” Draco said as he took his seat. “”Malfoy.” She nodded, to both of their surprise, a small "Hey” came from Neville who was staring pensively at the blonde, Draco nodded at the boy in response. “Took your time didn’t you. I almost thought you guys would skip altogether.” Hermione whispered to the boy beside her. “Actually, some of them almost did, but apparently the sight of the cowardly Malfoy attending classes was enough to question their pride as Slytherins.”

Before having the chance to say anything else, the headmistress McGonagall entered the room. The quiet murmurs that arose at the entrance of the Slytherins ceased as the former Transfiguration professor took her place at the front of the class. 

Minerva sat down on her chair, looking every bit the professor that she is and looked at the children in front of her… well not children. These students in front of her had faced situations some wizards can barely imagine. No, calling these students ‘children’ would be an insult to their achievements, good or bad.

“I know that this time was designated for your Transfiguration class, however, we shall all be talking about something else this session.” Clearing her throat, Minerva began. “Due to the collective agreement of the Ministry and the Board of Governors, all of you were once again invited to set foot here as students. However, apart from continuing your duty as students, we have decided to entrust upon all of you a task.” She called upon Hermione and Draco who promptly made their way to either side of the professor.

“As you all know, the school has entrusted Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy as this year’s Head Students as an appeal towards House Unity. However, they are not enough. We need all of you to show a semblance of camaraderie in order to restore the balance in this school.” McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose, a rare display of weakness, as shouts of protests are heard from the students in front of her.

“Professor, with all due respect, you can’t really expect us to just buddy up with those-those snakes right? “

“Professor I think that request is too much!”

“But professor-!”

“Listen, all of you! I know that there are far too many disputes among the houses, some may even be on a personal level, but this is what is required of you right now. It is your duty as 8th year students of Hogwarts.”

“OH FUCK DUTY!”

“Mister Finnegan! Watch your language!”

“No professor. I understand that it’s what we should do… WE understand that it’s what we should do”

“All the more reason to comply! So why-“

“However, professor, it’s too much to ask of us right now. We understand that it’s the right thing to do, but you can’t honestly expect us to be civil to them, not after what happened. It may come off as a surprise professor but we just finished a war that the person they practically worshiped waged against us.”

Silence reigned within the classroom, none knew how to break the deafening silence, except for Seamus who promptly resumed with his speech.

“We saw our schoolmates, our friends, get killed or crucioed on the spot by their parents. Lavender Brown,” a whimper was heard from Parvati who buried her face on her twin’s shoulders, “L-Lavender experienced something so heinous that she can barely remember herself from shock. Our friend Fred Weasley, who has no business being here that time died as he fought for the school. Meanwhile, these students with us today have the audacity to strut around the school confidently after everything that happened. Please understand where our sentiments come from.” Seamus took a seat, his hands covertly wiping tears that fell from his eyes.

No one else said anything, no one knew what else to say. Hermione winced as she heard the sounds of crying from some of her classmates. She knew that what Seamus said was true, what they’re being asked for them to do is a little too early for all of the students, more so to the students in front of her that were at the center of it all. 

Stepping up front, she surveyed everyone in front of her. “I know professor that this time was designated to explain the things that we would need to do, but allow me to take over for the time being.” She said, feeling relieved when the professor nodded. The blonde’s face however remained passive, just how it was throughout the whole ordeal.

“I know that it’s too early for this discussion for all of you. Whatever troubles Harry, Ron, and I may have faced in our travels, it does not measure to what you guys had to deal with on your final year. While our disappearance may have been worthwhile, right now, in front of all of you, I feel as if it were an act of cowardice. However, what happened cannot be changed, what we lost can never be restored, no matter how thick this façade of unity we may put. However, we can honour what we lost, right here.”

She took a deep breath and continued, “I’m asking for anyone who has something to say to speak up and say aloud whatever grudge or pain you’re currently facing. You all may not approve of the school’s ways, but if we at least want to start moving forward, we need to be able to bare our pains to the people with us today. No matter how redundant it may sound, I know all of you suffered, no matter how much you tried to hide it, and you need to let it out.” 

Moving off her position, she went back to McGonagall’s side where she caught the professor’s look of appreciation. Hermione almost sighed with relief when she saw someone stand up. She was afraid that no one would say anything despite her plea.

It was Dean Thomas that stood up and faced them. “As some of you may know, I was previously a speaker of the Potterwatch broadcast during the war. For those that do not know of Potterwatch, it’s something like a weekly broadcast held by some of the students along with other professors. It is during this time that some of us truly felt the war around us.”

“Every broadcast, we announce the people we know suffered death in the hands of the Death Eaters or their supporters, and for those who listened to us, we know that you know the terror we felt. That feeling of terror that the next name you hear may be someone you know, they can be a friend, a family, or just an acquaintance. That dread that grips you every time a word is spoken among us, fearing that somehow a taboo is triggered and we end up in a pit full of enemies with no way of escape. It’s something that we had to put up with in order to spread the news while the Daily Prophet succumbs to the enemies. And even though everything’s done now, that fear still creeps to me, reminding me of everything that happened.”

Without anything else to say, Dean sat down, his face devoid of any emotion. The whole thing continued for the first half of the class with mainly the Gryffindor students talking. Some Hufflepuffs spoke of the terror invoked by the Carrow twins, some of the Ravenclaws spoke of the situations they faced as they healed students who were tortured as punishments. Almost everyone but the Slytherins spoke up about their experiences.

When the first half of the class was finished, Neville spoke up. 

“I know that most of you have already told their stories, so let me speak up for those that didn’t…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys! So I already warned you at the beginning that it's gonna be a lil wordy since I'm not good with group conversations and stuff like this. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it!
> 
> If you have some things to say, I would greatly appreciate it. I'll take all constructive criticisms I'll get.
> 
> Cherry Mango signing off...


	10. Chapter Nine

“I know that most of you have already told their stories, so let me speak up for those that didn’t…”

Neville took a deep breath before proceeding, “I understand why a lot of you are against this so called duty that they imposed on us. By following such order, it feels as if the fight we fought for those we have lost has lost its meaning.”

Everyone had their eyes on Neville, everyone wanting to hear what he has to say.

“Each and every one of us lost something in that battle, not only the Hufflepuffs, nor the Ravenclaws, not just the Gryffindors. Everyone lost something. Our professors lost not only their students but also their friends and colleagues, all of us either lost a friend or a family member. No matter which side we were fighting for, no matter which side won, every one of us still lost.”

The boy walked forward and stood in front, between Draco and Hermione with his back on McGonagall, and resumed his speech. “I’m sure most of you know of this, during all of last year, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione are out and about, doing their best to weaken you-know—to weaken Voldemort,” half the students gave a wince as they heard the name, “the Carrows brought hell into our school.

“They treated students like animals, regardless of their houses. The fact that no student died in their hands during their time as professors was quite surprising. They did, however slowly break every student they get their hands on. Members of a small group of students we call the Dumbledore’s Army rose again to keep the Carrows’ grip at bay.”

The present members of the DA nodded at the mention of their group. Everyone in the room, including the Slytherins, know just how hard the group worked during the reign of the Carrows.

“With the help of ALL houses, we managed to keep the well beings of our classmates safe. Yes, I said all. Some of you may not know this but most of the Slytherins in our presence today helped a lot last year. I won’t say their names, just as I promised them when they requested it before, but they are the reasons we managed to help the victims of last year.”

Neville turned to McGonagall, “Today professor, I apologize for not telling you everything that happened last year.” He turned back to the class. “But now I think it’s best to let everyone know everything if we want everyone to cooperate with what you’re asking us to do.”

“We all know that the punishments of the Carrows for the slightest mistake is a bout of Cruciatus, unfortunately, that’s the most humane punishment they have. We have students disappear for days, only to turn up barely alive after being starved in a classroom-turned-cell. Some students were imperioed to hurt their friends just because THEY thought it would be fun to see. 

While the Cruciatus curse hurt the students, they’re other punishment dehumanizes the students to the point of the students barely recognizing themselves. Many tried to inform the rest of the faculty but they were met with more punishment by the Carrows.

It was during one time when it was Ginny and me that became the victims of this treatment that we saw that every one of us are suffering under this reign of terror. Some of our Slytherin classmates saw Ginny and I strapped on a wall, with our wands secured out of our reach. The straps were cursed to prevent anyone from helping us, but even with this warning, they still helped. Even after they were punished for helping us, they continued to give their assistance to us.”

Neville turned to the Slytherins on the side and looked pointedly at some of them, “I’m not asking you to reveal yourselves, but if you want to work with us, then feel free to let yourself be known.” 

No one stood up, Neville looked disappointed, yet he continued “If you still wish to keep your privacy, then there’s nothing I can do. But just know that I am very thankful for everything you did for us, every one of us, though they don’t know who you were during that time. I hope that what I told you guys right now is enough to convince everyone to accept whatever job Headmistress McGonagall tasked us to do, because right now, we need all the guidance we need.”

With no one else uttering a word, Neville went back to his seat. 

McGonagall couldn’t quite comprehend what happened what happened. She knew that Longbottom has truly matured, certainly very far from how he was at the beginning. But even for him, she expected some type of resistance against what she was asking them to do, after all, he and Miss Weasley shouldered the leadership role that Harry, Ron, and Hermione left when they disappeared. 

She didn’t expect him to do whatever he just did, at least not this early. However, despite the whole situation being a mess of unexpected things, she felt pride on just how much her students have grown. It may be wrong to be happy that they’ve grown when it was a war that caused that growth, but she’s happy nonetheless.

“Thank you Mr. Longbottom. I hope that everything said in this classroom today helped each of you to decide how you shall answer the job I gave for all of you. Now, I “know that there’s still half an hour before dismissal, but I shall leave you students alone to talk. As for the prefects, I know you’ve all been told about the meeting tonight but I would like to remind it again for all of you. Good day.”

An uproar rose the moment McGonagall stepped out of the door. Many students flocked Neville, each wanting more details about what he said, but they’re all met with silence as Neville kept quiet. 

Hermione tried to stop the mess but was only pulled by Draco, “Trying to stop them is futile Granger, Longbottom can handle himself, and you need to let them sort this out. This is something only they can understand, what with you being gone and me being… out of commission during their stay.”

Hermione tried to dispute him but he kept his grip tight until she relented. They watched as the noise soon died down. Some questions were answered, others were avoided, while others were met with more questions. It may still be a mess but at least it toned down.

When the tension finally diffused, a lone student from a corner stood up and dragged their seat and placed it beside Neville who looked relieved.

Everyone stared as Pansy Parkinson sat down beside Neville, with an ease that conveys the fact that these two unlikely people know each other to the point of the other being comfortable with the other on.

“Finally decided to reveal yourself eh.” Neville said as he smiled at the girl.

“Well someone has to step out from our side, it’s hard to call you a cowardly lion after you stood up for us...”

To say that Hermione was shocked was an understatement. 

Meanwhile, even Draco had his mouth hanging wide open.

“I guess it’s time they know the story huh…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys!! If you guys feel like this is rushed… then you felt right. Stuff happened and I to write this whole thing today… and I had to rush everything since there’s also some stuff that I had to do today.
> 
> So anyway, I’m sorry since this isn’t my best chapter…obviously… but I’ll try to make the next one better. 
> 
> CherryMango signing out…


	11. Chapter Ten

A week has passed since their first day of class.

Hermione is quite certain that she's still in a state of shock.

"Since we're pretty much dismissed, I guess we do have enough time for a story." Pansy walked to the front of the room, sitting on top of the teacher's table, ignoring Hermione's indignant gasp. Pansy looked at the head students on her side, "I suggest you two head to your seats, this may take some time."

Hermione frowned but returned to her nonetheless, Draco followed suit.

"I know most of you might not believe this, but we Slytherins do have conscience… granted that we rarely listen to it to be honest." Pansy began, disregarding the glares she got from her statement.

"Anyways, though I really wanna deny everything Longbottom said, as sappy as it is, some are quite true. It was a quiet, dreary day at school when some of us saw your precious DA leaders chained up in one of the empty room in the dungeons… The Carrow Twins may have the title professor but honestly, their intelligence level was nearer to that of the trolls instead of humans.

We, being the kind people that we are, helped the Weaslette and Longbottom escape from their misery. Honestly it does not take a lot to break the so called enchantments of those bumbling idiots of a professor." The girl crossed her legs in attempt to be more comfortable.

Ignoring the stares, she continued. "Obviously, idiots that they may be, even a first year would know that two people with their arms tied up and their wands out of reach would need accomplices to escape… quite a shame that they actually reached that conclusion. And so, our wants were tested and lo and behold, we got caught.

Of course it was nothing bad, just a couple bout of crucios and dehumanization, honestly if the 4th years can survive that, so can we. What's worse is the report to their dear ol' boss-daddy about our "treasonous" acts, quite a smart word for such morons but it did the job. A couple of days later and we received word that our families were "visited" by the Dark Lord… if you know what I mean."

Several horrified gasps were heard among the students, while they may not know exactly what happens behind closed doors of the Dark Lords visits, they do have an ideas of what may happen. Each and every one of them are definitely not fun.

"Not to worry, the Dark Lord didn't kill them, even world dominating psychopaths need people to support their cause if they want to succeed, and nevertheless it was quite the warning. One that our parents didn't hesitate to remind us whenever we take a step out of the line… something that we'll be doing a lot throughout the whole year.

Now let's get back to Longbottom's story, I'm afraid if I keep on talking about something else the poor guy's gonna lose his credibility.

After that dungeon and punishment situation, well let's just say that we didn't really like how things are being handled. Professor Dumbledore, bless his soul, may have been an eccentric, Gryffindor loving fool, but at least none of us were getting tortured at a daily basis when he was around."

Pansy jumped down from the table and went to her seat, all the while keeping everyone's attention on her. Rummaging her bag, she pulled out something that caused other students to gasp.

Neither Hermione nor Draco know the significance of the small, frilly, pink notebook that Pansy was holding up, however almost every student seems to know what it is.

"Now I know most of you, save our heads, would know of this … what do you call it again?"

"It's a notebook." Neville supplied.

"Right, notebook. I know most of you would know of this notebook… well you wouldn't know about this very notebook, but you would know about its twins that are currently owned by a certain Neville Longbottom and Ginevra Weasley. Longbottom, come up here and do your part I've been speaking this entire time and I don't like that look on your face."

A small laugh came from some of the girls as Neville was caught off guard with a bright smile on his face while staring at Pansy. Hermione feels utterly unnerved. Draco looks green.

Neville stood up and joined the girl on the front, standing on the side of the table as the girl once again sat cross legged on the table.

"Just to catch up those who don't know, in order for the DA to operate last year, all members were given a piece of paper, while Ginny and I have notebooks like the one Pansy was holding. The whole thing was under a Protean Charm, just like the galleons we used before which were made by our current Head Girl, Hermione.

The papers are connected to the notebooks, whatever we wrote on the notebooks would appear on the papers and vice versa. To not leave a paper trail, all messages are spelled to disappear after a certain period of time. What the rest of you don't know is that, Ginny's notebook and mine was connected to Pansy's notebook.

Pansy, along with other Slytherins were supplying us with information regarding the schedules of our delightful professors, they were also the once who distract them, and even our former Headmaster Snape whenever a prank was planned."

Neville summoned his own bag and retrieved a notebook that looks exactly like the one Pansy was holding, albeit a little bit more worn out than the other. "We got the idea of these notebooks from Ginny, who would rather not speak of how she came to the idea of using a notebook with disappearing writing to talk with other people."

The whole discussion continued for another hour, with the 8th years missing half of their lunch time.

Neville revealed all the ways the Slytherins managed to help them during the previous year in hopes of convincing the others to trust the Snakes a little bit more. Which surprisingly worked. The rest of the 8th years begrudgingly accepted their contributions.

Due to the happenings of the past week, a truce had been established among all 8th years. They'll keep private disputes private while putting on a civil, if not friendly, façade with the other side.

It may not be the original goal but…well baby steps.

With the truce on going, seeing 8th year students sitting in other house tables became a common sight, though it was mainly among Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw houses.

It was quite the sight when the famous Neville Longbottom of Gryffindor house sat with Pansy Parkinson at the Slytherin table.

"Well, who knew things would end this way?" Hermione said as she sat on the sofa of the Heads common room.

"True, I honestly thought it would take us…well definitely more than a week." Replied Draco who was writing an essay about countering spells near the fireplace.

The two were currently waiting for the arrival of the other prefects to discuss the division of labour and duties among all of them along with the contents of a certain letter that Professor McGonagall sent them earlier.

Time passed between the two of them, the tick-tock of the clock sounding louder than it really was. Silence reigned between the two.

"Who knew Pansy acted that way last year?" Hermione muttered, trying to fill the void with mindless chatter. Well not mindless per se, the subject WAS the very thing in their minds lately. The secret friendship between Neville and Pansy being one of the biggest revelations of the school year… apart from Draco being accepted as Head Boy.

Before any answer was uttered, the door of their common room materialized. Prefects from all houses stumbled through the door laughing. The Head students can hear laughter and shouting from the outside as well, though both concluded that it was probably another conversation with Snape that caused the commotion. Death has apparently rendered the formerly stoic professor into a hilarious, bluntly speaking portrait. Which is to say he insults almost everyone who enters the common room, something most of the prefects started to find as hilarious.

When everyone was settled on the long table within the dining room, Hermione cleared her throat.

"Now for today's agenda…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~
> 
> Hey guys! Sooo this is probably the first time I updated late. Unfortunately it won't be the last.
> 
> I'm afraid that school, well online classes to be precise, finally started this week and it caught me off guard, causing this delay in update. While I'll try to maintain my weekly update, I might not be able to set an exact day for updates while I try to get used to my new schedule.
> 
> Really sorry about this.
> 
> Cherry_Mango signing out…


	12. Chapter Eleven

The meeting began when everyone managed to get themselves settled on the long table.

Hermione cleared her throat, “Now for today’s agenda, we shall begin the planning for the upcoming events of the year.”

“Our request to hold a banquet was granted an approval by the Headmistress and they will be held on the first of November and on the month of May.” Draco continued, taking the spotlight from Hermione. “As per the Headmistress’s request, the November banquet would be a welcome celebration for the returning 8th years, however only 4th years and above can attend.”

“Then I assume the May banquet would also be for the 8th years?” Ginny asked with her hand, and eyebrow, raised. The two heads nodded in agreement.

“No, well at least, not only for the 8th years.” Hermione answered, “While graduation isn’t until the last week of June, the May banquet would be held to commemorate the Battle of Hogwarts. All students from 1st to 8th years would of course be allowed to attend, along with visitors from the friends and family of those who were involved during the battle.”

Steering away from the sensitive topic, “So, apart from these two balls,” Pansy said, glaring on a couple of fifth and sixth year boys who snickered, “would there be other events to plan ahead for? I swear if our last year would only have two banquets, I’m gonna have to storm McGonagall’s and ask for more.”

“Wouldn’t that be unfair for the next graduates?” said one sixth year Ravenclaw, “I mean we get the first two, but it would be unfair for future graduates if this year gets to host more events that the last seven years.”

“Look here Simons, our year ended up with a war against a bald, nose-less, psychopath, so I think we deserve this-“

“Whose fault was it anyway? If it wasn’t for our dear Head Bo-”

“STOP RIGHT THERE! This is a room for peaceful and proper discussions, so I suggest this talk remains that way.” Hermione said, now off her chair. Her face looks livid, and her hair sparking on the ends.

“Parkinson, yes, we’d have more events, and you should’ve waited for our announcement to finish. “ Hermione turned to the Ravenclaw girl who was now cowering on her chair. “And you Miss Simons. 20 points from Ravenclaw.”

“But Miss Granger! This is unfair!” the girl shrieked. She looked at her fellow housemates for support. The other Ravenclaw prefects said nothing and averted their eyes.

“Unfair? No Miss Simons, what YOU did was unfair. All of us are making an effort to keep the blame game to a minimum, but unfortunately you don’t seem to get what all this effort is about. Yes I understand your previous argument. It would be unfair for other years that is the same reason I gave the headmistress when she told me the events in the school calendar.

“It is however, the request of the Headmistress. She feels that we deserve a leeway this year since, like Miss Parkinson said, we had a war before we even graduated last year. This year, we want to let the students tire themselves out not in preparation for battle, or for another bout of torture in class. We want them to prepare for silly things like banquets and balls. We want the students to feel like their age since all of us had to grow up quickly to survive the year before.”

Hermione took a deep breath and sat down with her eyes closed. Draco silently signaled the rest to leave as he went to Hermione’s side.

“Well that went well.” Draco said, sitting down on the couch.

“Well? That was bloody terrible! Or did you forgot that a fight happened?” Hermione replied, sitting down on the floor and resting her head on the couch.

“Well, a verbal fight, yes… But what I mean is, look at the bright side. I only got called out once, Pansy didn’t hex anyone, Lovegood didn’t somehow find her way here again in the middle of a meeting, and everyone managed to leave without injuries.”

Hermione groaned, remembering that one time Luna managed to enter their common room in the middle of a meeting with the prefects. It was still a mystery how she convinced the Snape portrait to let her enter.

“When you say it like that, it did seem pretty well… ” The girl glanced at the blond beside her, “huh”.

“What is it?”

“It’s just that I never pegged you as a… you know…”

“Granger I might be an amazing occlumens but that doesn’t mean I’m a good legilimens. What is it.”

“Like an optimistic guy… I mean you were always brooding, especially on our 6th year.”

“Gee Granger, how can you not tell? I’ve always been rainbows and sunshine. Didn’t you notice?”

“I mean I guess you were pretty fun when Moody turned you into a ferret back in 4th year.”

“Merlin Granger, still on that ferret thing?”

Hermione just laughed at the scowling blonde, her stress from the meeting slowly dissipating. “Ugh I’ll go wash up, it’s been a long day” she said, groaning as she stood up. 

“Go ahead, I’ll clean up here. Fight or not, those kids still made a mess”

“Don’t call them kids, they were like a year younger than us”

“Key word is younger.”

“Anyways, you sure you’ll clean up? I can help before turning in.”

“Yeah, I’ll probably finish that potions essay first, I’ve been putting off for hours.”

Hermione looked both amused and indignant at the thought of procrastinating on homework but let the whole thing slide. With her morning and night classes, coupled with the recent meeting, she can honestly say that she needs a break. 

Taking her things, she went to her room and arranged anything that may be out of place. With a flick of her want, everything arranged themselves and with another flick, a pair of pajamas floated out her dresser.

After her evening rituals, she began to cast silencing spells on her room. She did not want another repeat of her first day. That morning was embarrassing enough as it is without the memories of everything that happened the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys!! So yeah, I somehow managed to type up to this amount of words… it’s few but dang did it feel a lot. I’ll do my best to give you longer updates once my whole schedule gets settled.   
> Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, I really wanna read your thoughts about this… coz I don’t even know what I think of it myself hahaha.
> 
> Cherry_Mango signing off…


	13. Chapter Twelve

The whole class was in disarray.

Well, the Gryffindor part of the class was in disarray. Murmurs from the other students can also be heard, but they were not as prominent as the concerned ramblings of the Gryffindor students. 

This is the state that their Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick, caught them in. 

“Now, now, settle down all of you. What is with this commotion?” He said as he walked towards a small pedestal on the front that he conjured the moment he went in. “Why is everyone causing such a ruckus?”

“The impossible has just happened professor.” Dean Thomas exclaimed, dramatically posing as if he’s a lady about to swoon.

At Flitwick’s stern look, Dean arranged his self but still seemed to be brimming with both concern and excitement. “It’s true professor! Go ask Neville if you don’t believe me.”

The professor turned his inquiring glance at Neville who seemed to be trying to keep himself from laughing out loud.

“Pray tell me what this ‘impossible’ thing is about Mr. Longbottom, and how it seems to be enough for the whole class to disregard the time schedule.”

“Hermione is late professor, for the first time in seven years. We’re all trying to guess the reason for her tardiness.” Said Neville who stood in the middle of the group.

“Miss Granger being late? Have you asked the Head Boy about this?”

“Unfortunately professor, our dear head boy is currently sound asleep on his seat. We tried waking him up but unfortunately… well things got out of hand and now Seamus is being nursed to consciousness by Madame Pomfrey at the infirmary.”

Flitwick pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Fine, since it is our goal for this year to let you children act your age, I’ll forgive this incident. But only this once. Somebody wake up Mr. Malfoy.”

Flitwick felt his eye twitched when nobody moved. Everyone seemed to be wary at the sleeping boy. Seeing their hesitation, he signalled them to let the boy be.

‘It’s a shame casting spells on unsuspecting students isn’t allowed. Well, an example has to be set after that Moody incident. Still a shame though’

He proceeded to sit down on his chair to start his lecture, only to be interrupted by his students.

“Do you want to take a guess professor?”

“Well Miss Granger being late IS rather unheard of. Fine, I’ll take a gander. What do you suppose happened?”

“We suspected kidnapping.” He heard someone shout from the Ravenclaw side.

“Come on guys, maybe she just overslept.” Said Padma from her seat, her statement causing the Gryffindor girls to snicker hysterically. Parvati face palmed, either for embarrassment for her sister, or just to hide the almost hysterical laughter bubbling from her.

It was both.

“Just…stop talking…Padma.” Parvati managed to utter as she laughs out loud. “Seriously, Potter coming back from the dead was way more believable than Granger missing classes from oversleeping. Trust me, I slept with her for 6 years, with the alarms she set up, oversleeping is never a problem for everyone in the girl’s dorms.”

“Haha Lion Patil slept with Granger. I see you swing the other way Parvati.” Snickered Pansy who promptly got hit by a paper parchment wad thrown by one of the Gryffindors.

“Ha ha, you know that’s not what I meant Parkinson.”

“Anyways, she’s probably just held up by a first year. You know how those kids are. They somehow get lost even after staying here for over half a year, it’s so much worse now that it’s just a couple weeks since the term started.” Continued Pansy as she laid her head on her desk, as if readying herself to sleep.

“Well that could be,” said Neville, “What do you think professor?” 

Flitwick appeared to be deep in thought before he answered, “I’d say she probably went to see the Headmistress to talk about something. I must say, this guessing game is fun.” He said, his eyes crinkled in amusement.

It was at this moment that the classroom doors burst opened revealing a very haggard looking Hermione Granger. In her haste, she appeared to have suffered accidental situations that caused her hair to somehow manage to be all over the place despite the facts that it’s currently tied with a scrunchie.

“Sorry for being late professor-“

“Granger where have you been! We, well your little lions here, have been worried sick!” said Pansy who stood up and shook Hermione, faux concern plastered all over her face.

Hermione broke free from the vigorous shaking, “Honestly Parkinson, it’s just 5 minutes, it’s not a big deal—“she stopped with a sudden gasp as she remembered the presence of her professor. “I am so sorry professor I didn’t mean what I just said.”

Snickers can be heard all over the classroom. 

Flitwick’s beard twitched in silent laughter.

Hermione grabbed her bag and pulled out a piece of parchment which she hastily thrusted upon her professor who simply folded it.

“I’m assuming that this is a note to excuse you for your tardiness Miss Granger, is my assumption correct?”

“Yes Professor.”

“Before I read the contents of this note, would you mind telling the whole class the reason for your tardiness?”

Hermione was confused, Flitwick never acted like this in all her years of being a student, however she didn’t miss the fact that most of the class seemed to subtly inched nearer to her, waiting for what she’s about to say.

She sighed.

“I’m really sorry for coming up late professor, Headmistress McGonagall called for me earlier this morning regarding the details of the prefect meeting held the night before.”

A series of groans were heard from the others while Flitwick somehow managed to sound smug as he too laughed. Hermione frantically looked at her other classmates for help to determine just what happened before she arrived. No one helped her.

Did Neville Longbottom just winked at her?

Hermione returned to her seat, feeling frustrated on her lack of knowledge on what’s happening. Some of her classmates are congratulating their professor for something while Pansy kept saying “For shame Granger, for shame” as she continuously shook her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Very late… I know I know.  
> And yes, this whole chapter is just one big Brooklyn 99 reference and I do not regret a thing… except maybe not making this longer.
> 
> Surprisingly, I apparently can’t manage my time wisely, from every day online classes, to this, to being a daughter on an Asian household… to other stuff that I simply just need to attend to.
> 
> Anyways, I’ll try to speed up the plot coz this truly is taking a bit too long, we’re already twelve chapters in and this is literally just the first couple of weeks… this is insane.
> 
> Anyways, don’t hesitate to leave a comment/review, I would really love to hear from you guys.
> 
> Cherry_Mango signing off…


	14. Chapter Thirteen

A tense atmosphere surrounded the dining table of the Head Dormitory.

Neville Longbottom can feel the dread rising in him as the tension grew stronger. He could see the head boy on his chair, slowly inching away from the table as if preparing to scape. To be honest he feels the same, and probably every other boy gathered around the table.

‘I want to leave’ 

These words resonated within the minds of all the male prefects.

~*~*~*  
Hermione feels a headache starting to form as she scans the tense atmosphere around the table. It may have been a relief that the debacle of the previous meeting was already swept under the rug, however the situation unfolding in front of her doesn’t seem to be any better.

In front of her was an awful vision. Pansy Parkinson seems to have gathered a posse backing her argument while others gathered around who seems to be Padma as she disputes whatever Pansy was saying.

She noticed Draco slowly inching away from the table and sent a glare his way which only went unnoticed as he continued distancing himself from the table.

Neville hid under the table, but she soon saw him crawling his way out of the dining room.

Michael Corner from Ravenclaw just disillusioned himself.

Hermione doesn’t know whether to feel amused or annoyed. Deciding on the latter, she silently casted a silencio to everyone surrounding the table. It was quite the sight seeing a 5th year Hufflepuff prefect soundlessly choking on laughter when the girls kept on fighting despite producing no sounds.

Waiting until everyone has settled down, she cancelled her spell and cleared her throat. “Going back before this whole… debacle came to be, we shall now discuss the preparations of the Halloween Ball. This discussion was supposed to have taken place during the previous meeting but as we all know, a certain disagreement occurred.”

She saw them wince as they remembered what the “disagreement” is. Making use of the silence, Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and her self-inking quill and placed them on the table. 

“Now let’s start this again. What theme should this Halloween Ball be? To avoid the chaos that is a while ago, I’ll list down your nominations and tally the votes. Whichever theme gets the most votes would be the theme that we’ll use.”

There was a unanimous sigh of relief that came from the boys. 

Neville finally made it back to his seat.

No one apart from Hermione noticed Michael’s reappearance in his seat.

“I told you, a fairy-tale themed ball would be perfect! It would be absolutely beautiful since we can use magic to make our dresses and other ball stuff more magical!” Insisted   
Padma, halfway off her chair being held back by one of the younger Ravenclaw prefects. 

While some of the others nodded in agreement, the look of utter disgust on Pansy’s face made Hermione wince in pity for the Ravenclaw Patil. “Okay, a muggle fairy-tale theme from Ms. Patil. Anyone else?”

Without raising her hand, Pansy started, “I told you, a creatures-themed Halloween ball is way better than that muggle nonsense you’re spouting, no offense Granger.” Hermione just shrugged, surprised by the sudden and nonchalant apology.

“What good is a Creatures-themed party? You cannot really expect students to dress as a grindylow or whatnot on a ball, can you? Seriously Parkinson, I thought you’d have more sense when it comes to this.”

“Oh hush it Patil, and a Grindylow? Are you trying to make your small-mindedness that evident?”

Gasps were heard from the Ravenclaw members, which is understandable considering the insult and the principles of their house. Just as Hermione was about to take over, not wanting the repeat of whatever happened earlier, Pansy gestured her to sit down.

“I mean really? Is Grindylow all you can remember from our classes? The Wizarding world had hundreds, if not thousands, of magical creatures! Take a fwooper or heck a phoenix even, imagine dressing into something that’s reminiscent of those creatures and tell me I’m wrong for pushing for a creatures-themed ball.” Pansy sighed as she relaxed on her seat.

Hermione glanced at the suddenly quite table, unsure whether to feel relieved or even more anxious. “Okay, two nominations then, a muggle fairy-tale and a creatures themed vote, any other suggestions?” Silence, “If none, then we shall proceed to voting for whichever theme you favour the most.”

The voting began. Hermione gave everyone a slip of parchment and asked them to write the theme they prefer. After writing, they would then hide the parchment on their hands until Hermione accios them for her to count. 

It seemed to be going well. Hermione tallied the votes, discarding the empty slips she was sure came from the boys. However, just as she was finished, a flash of fear ran through her. She swallowed as she glanced at the girls expectantly looking for her for the announcement of the winning theme,

“It’s a tie” Hermione hesitantly said, then once again went over the tallies to double check, dread continuously rising as the results kept revealing the same thing, the number of votes on both themes are equal.

Passing the parchment with the tallies to a Hufflepuff near her, she watched as all the girls gathered around the parchment, as if fervently staring at it would somehow change the outcome. It didn’t.

It was at that moment that the girls noticed something. The number of the votes only equal to the number of the girls.

The boys didn’t vote.

Realizing they had been discovered, fear and panic ran through the face of all the male prefects. 

Before Hermione has realized what was happening, the boys already fled the scene with the girls hot on pursuit. They ran to the door, startling a grumpy Severus Snape, earning them a scowl and a long insult that somehow lasted for 15 minutes though they’re already gone.

Needless to say, this meeting is yet another failure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*0*~  
> Hey guys! Soooo online classed haven’t been treating me well, which is probably evident from this totally late and really short update.
> 
> I’m sad to say that future updates may take as long as this one. As much as I want to update earlier, the amount of homework and activities our teachers give us coupled with regular house stuff is really time consuming and whatever free time I find, I spend on taking naps to regain my strength.
> 
> I’m really sorry about this and I hope you guys understand. Thank you so much for waiting.  
> Cherry_Mango signing off…


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